Congressional roll call

Published: Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 10:02 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 10:02 a.m.

By Voterama in Congress

Here’s how North Carolina members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending May 17.

House

DODD-FRANK FINANCIAL RULES: Voting 235 for and 161 against, the House on May 17 passed a bill (HR 1062) imposing time-consuming requirements on the Securities and Exchange Commission as it puts the 2010 financial-regulation law known as Dodd-Frank into effect. In part, the bill would require the SEC, an independent agency, to conduct cost-benefit analyses of Dodd-Frank’s impact on free-market forces such as capital formation and market liquidity. Dodd-Frank was enacted in response to the Wall Street meltdown in 2007 and the Great Recession that followed. The SEC has issued more than half of the 400plus rules needed to implement the 2,300-page law.

Voting 179 for and 217 against, the House on May 17 defeated a Democratic bid to prevent HR 1062 (above) from reducing the Security and Exchange Commission’s ability to safeguard the pensions of first responders and teachers or protect U.S. companies from foreign takeovers.

Not voting: Coble COST-BENEFIT ANALYSES: Voting 165 for and 233 against, the House on May 17 defeated a Democratic bid to replace HR 1062 (above) with a nonbinding description of the multiple cost-benefit analyses that the Securities and Exchange Commission already is required to conduct in regulating the financial- services industry.

A yes vote backed the Democratic amendment.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Price, Watt

Voting no: Ellmers, Jones, Foxx, McIntyre,

Hudson, Pittenger, McHenry, Meadows, Holding

Not voting: Coble 2010 HEALTH-LAW REPEAL: Voting 229 for and 195 against, the House on May 16 passed a GOP bill (HR 45) to repeal the sweeping health law enacted in 2010 and upheld last year by the Supreme Court. House Republicans now have conducted three votes to repeal the law and more than 30 to change it. The law is designed to provide more than 30 million legal U.S. residents with health insurance they did not have at the time of enactment. Some parts already are in operation, and the law’s two most expansive sections will take effect in 2014. They are an enlargement of Medicaid and the opening of exchanges — online marketplaces — in all states where the uninsured can buy health policies at affordable rates.

Richard Hudson, R-N.C., called the law “the most egregious example of government overreach we have ever seen. … Health care has always been and should always be a relationship between a patient and a doctor of one’s choice, not a government mandate to be managed by faceless bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”

CORPS OF ENGINEERS PROJECTS: Voting 83 for and 14 against, the Senate on May 15 passed a bill (S 601) overseeing nearly 700 Army Corps of Engineers water projects costing tens of billions of dollars that directly benefit every state. Now awaiting House action, the bill authorizes or reauthorizes projects for flood control, navigation, shoreline protection, environmental restoration, harbor maintenance, levee safety, wastewater treatment and lock and dam upgrades. It authorizes $12.5 billion over ten years for new projects on top of a backlog of unfinished projects budgeted at $60 billion.

The bill contains no earmarks; puts environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act on a fast track; expedites rules for Great Lakes harbor dredging; bolsters the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and allows premium increases to take effect for the National Flood Insurance Program.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Democrat Kay Hagan

Voting no: Republican Richard Burr

MEDICARE, MEDICAID ADMINISTRATION:

Voting 91 for and seven against, the Senate on May 15 confirmed Marilyn B. Tavenner, 61, as chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency with jurisdiction over health care for one in three Americans. In addition to administering Medicare and Medicaid, the agency oversees the Children’s Heath Insurance Program and runs part of the 2010 health law. Tavenner had been acting director of the CMS, and before that she was a nurse, hospital administrator and the top health official for Virginia.

A yes vote was to confirm Tavenner.

Voting yes: Hagan, Burr A look ahead

In the week of May 20, the Senate will take up a five-year farm bill, while the House schedule was to be announced.

<p>By Voterama in Congress </p><p>Here's how North Carolina members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending May 17. </p><p>House </p><p>DODD-FRANK FINANCIAL RULES: Voting 235 for and 161 against, the House on May 17 passed a bill (HR 1062) imposing time-consuming requirements on the Securities and Exchange Commission as it puts the 2010 financial-regulation law known as Dodd-Frank into effect. In part, the bill would require the SEC, an independent agency, to conduct cost-benefit analyses of Dodd-Frank's impact on free-market forces such as capital formation and market liquidity. Dodd-Frank was enacted in response to the Wall Street meltdown in 2007 and the Great Recession that followed. The SEC has issued more than half of the 400plus rules needed to implement the 2,300-page law.</p><p>A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. </p><p>Voting yes: Republicans Renee Ellmers, Walter Jones, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Robert Pittenger, Patrick McHenry, Mark Meadows and George Holding; Democrat Mike McIntyre Voting no: Democrats G.K. Butterfield, David Price, Melvin Watt Not voting: Republican Howard Coble </p><p>FIRST RESPONDERS, FOREIGN TAKEOVERS: </p><p>Voting 179 for and 217 against, the House on May 17 defeated a Democratic bid to prevent HR 1062 (above) from reducing the Security and Exchange Commission's ability to safeguard the pensions of first responders and teachers or protect U.S. companies from foreign takeovers.</p><p>A yes vote backed the Democratic motion.</p><p>Voting yes: Butterfield, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Watt Voting no: Ellmers, Foxx, Hudson, Pittenger, McHenry, Meadows, Holding </p><p>Not voting: Coble COST-BENEFIT ANALYSES: Voting 165 for and 233 against, the House on May 17 defeated a Democratic bid to replace HR 1062 (above) with a nonbinding description of the multiple cost-benefit analyses that the Securities and Exchange Commission already is required to conduct in regulating the financial- services industry.</p><p>A yes vote backed the Democratic amendment.</p><p>Voting yes: Butterfield, Price, Watt </p><p>Voting no: Ellmers, Jones, Foxx, McIntyre, </p><p>Hudson, Pittenger, McHenry, Meadows, Holding </p><p>Not voting: Coble 2010 HEALTH-LAW REPEAL: Voting 229 for and 195 against, the House on May 16 passed a GOP bill (HR 45) to repeal the sweeping health law enacted in 2010 and upheld last year by the Supreme Court. House Republicans now have conducted three votes to repeal the law and more than 30 to change it. The law is designed to provide more than 30 million legal U.S. residents with health insurance they did not have at the time of enactment. Some parts already are in operation, and the law's two most expansive sections will take effect in 2014. They are an enlargement of Medicaid and the opening of exchanges — online marketplaces — in all states where the uninsured can buy health policies at affordable rates.</p><p>Richard Hudson, R-N.C., called the law “the most egregious example of government overreach we have ever seen. … Health care has always been and should always be a relationship between a patient and a doctor of one's choice, not a government mandate to be managed by faceless bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”</p><p>A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.</p><p>Voting yes: Ellmers, Jones, Foxx, Coble, McIntyre, Hudson, Pittenger, McHenry, Meadows, Holding Voting no: Butterfield, Price, Watt </p><p>Senate </p><p>CORPS OF ENGINEERS PROJECTS: Voting 83 for and 14 against, the Senate on May 15 passed a bill (S 601) overseeing nearly 700 Army Corps of Engineers water projects costing tens of billions of dollars that directly benefit every state. Now awaiting House action, the bill authorizes or reauthorizes projects for flood control, navigation, shoreline protection, environmental restoration, harbor maintenance, levee safety, wastewater treatment and lock and dam upgrades. It authorizes $12.5 billion over ten years for new projects on top of a backlog of unfinished projects budgeted at $60 billion.</p><p>The bill contains no earmarks; puts environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act on a fast track; expedites rules for Great Lakes harbor dredging; bolsters the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and allows premium increases to take effect for the National Flood Insurance Program.</p><p>A yes vote was to pass the bill.</p><p>Voting yes: Democrat Kay Hagan </p><p>Voting no: Republican Richard Burr </p><p>MEDICARE, MEDICAID ADMINISTRATION: </p><p>Voting 91 for and seven against, the Senate on May 15 confirmed Marilyn B. Tavenner, 61, as chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency with jurisdiction over health care for one in three Americans. In addition to administering Medicare and Medicaid, the agency oversees the Children's Heath Insurance Program and runs part of the 2010 health law. Tavenner had been acting director of the CMS, and before that she was a nurse, hospital administrator and the top health official for Virginia.</p><p>A yes vote was to confirm Tavenner.</p><p>Voting yes: Hagan, Burr A look ahead </p><p>In the week of May 20, the Senate will take up a five-year farm bill, while the House schedule was to be announced.</p>